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226 their use. I was careful to select those whose examples might naturally and happily bear upon their own course of principle or action. Always did they reward me by fixed attention, as if they fully appreciated this loving service. And then we parted until another week. It might seem affectation to say, not without regret. And yet I have heard them express it, for they delighted in each other's company, as I in theirs.

The discovery of a new pleasure brought them occasionally together during this interval, the pleasure of doing good. They had become somewhat acquainted with a class of girls in humble life, to whom I gave religious instruction on Saturday afternoons. Their quick eyes detected some deficiencies in apparel which they thought the supernumeraries of their own wardrobe might happily supply. Obtaining permission at home for this transfer, they found it desirable to meet and consult on the best modes of adaptation and repair. It was felt to be no privation thus to devote a portion of their only weekly recess. I sometimes saw them, thus gathered in the school-room, with their busy needles, thoughtfully devising to whom this or that garment should appertain, and how it might be most accurately fitted to the dimensions of the recipient. I was surprised at both their judgment and efficiency. The oldest of this board of commissioners was sixteen, and the youngest six, the majority ranging from nine to thirteen. Yet with a singular mixture of maternal care,